To think it’s not right to bring a baby up as a vegetarian?

[veggiesup]

Surely a baby/child should have all food available until they can make their own decisions?

*We have a rule on Scout camp... we will provide vegetarian options for anyone that asks beforehand. However we won't refuse to serve them meat if the child asks for it. (For the younger children we will make sure they definitely know it is meat!) Unless there is a medical reason to refuse the child a certain food item.

We have never had a vegetarian child refuse a marshmallow for example... and yes we do say they contain animal products*

As a cub leader, I think that's terrible. Parents entrust their child to us for camps, and I think we have an obligation to follow their (reasonable) wishes wherever we can. If the parent had previously said that it was ok for their child to eat meat while on camp, then fine, but otherwise you should make sure that vegetarian children eat vegetarian food. I accept for older scouts/explorers, then they should possibly be able to make up their own mind, but for younger children (younger scouts/cubs etc), it's our responsibility as leaders.

Would you have the same opinion on religious grounds? We had a child who wanted to eat a ham sandwich, but she was muslim, so we stopped her. It's not our place to overrule her parents wishes on this.

There is a huge difference between being vegetarian and vegan. I don’t think there is much scientific controversy about babies and children being fed a vegetarian diet as that still includes animal products. A vegan diet is a completely different matter…

Oh ffs. Bring up a child the way you think is right and then let them choose when they’re older. Main thing is a healthy and varied diet.

Honestly, better a proper vegetarian diet with fresh food rather than the UPF that so many children are being fed.

I couldn’t find where that’s been said. The nhs stand point from all that I have seen is that it’s better to include animal products, but if you’re very well informed and very careful a vegan diet can be safe for children but they will likely need to take supplements.

so I will continue to believe that a vegan diet isn’t ideal for small kids and to believe that it should be a choice people make once they’re old enough to make that choice.

I agree, this is awful. The poor kids are going to feel conflicted and guilty. Just provide vegetarian marshmallows so everyone including Muslims can eat. 🙄

I raised two children as vegetarian from birth. I am and have always been very glad to be able to do so.

Kids are now teens and choose to remain vegetarian. As long as the child decides once they get to a certain age ( understanding the ethics, environmental impacts) then it’s completely fine.

All I can say is that I know some very educated and healthy families who make nutritious and varied meals. Some are vegetarian, some meat eaters and some vegan! But they all have a good wide range of vegetables.

You get a lot of meat eating parents who give their kids too much meat and not enough veg. Their poor bowels. Just be healthy.

You can have the exact same arguments for/against religions.

Anyway the vegetarians I know are super healthy so they kids are doing pretty well.

I'm vegetarian but I've always tried to give my children a pretty balanced diet including meat and fish, it's entirely up to them to decide for themselves whether they want to be vegetarian or not. My son has never been a big meater, like me he just doesn't seem to like it very much and will more often than not have what I'm having. My daughter has always loved meat and fish, however she has just decided in the last week that she'd like to give vegetarianism a go, I guess we'll see how she gets on!

Red meat is carcinogenic so it is not healthy for children.

I agree parents should feed their kids a healthy diet, but for small kids that’s very hard to achieve being vegan.

its much easier for veggies or meat eaters to get the balance right. There’s a lot of controversy around small kids being made to be vegan and quite a lot of research that says it can be detrimental to their development. But each to their own. I wouldn’t say anything to anyone in real life. I know vegans (of the less militant variety) who though vegan themselves give their kids a veggie diet as it’s easier to ensure they get what they need.

I think is fair. If kids go to a party they should be allowed to eat the food on offer.

I know red meat is carcinogenic, I think that's established. I have also heard that the antibiotics and stress hormones in meat and dairy are not good for us.

but please don’t deprive your children of vital nutrients due to your beliefs. Veggie fine but being vegan is not for small children

Funniest thing I've read on MN today, thanks for the laugh!

You do realise that great swathes of the world are vegetarian? And it can be an incredibly nutritious and delicious diet? This original post comes across as very narrow minded!

😂😂😂 no worries. Go have a look at the research 😂😂😂🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️

https://www.who.int/news-room/questions-and-answers/item/cancer-carcinogenicity-of-the-consumption-of-red-meat-and-processed-meat

If I were to eat meat I would only at best feed my child fish and even they are full of pollutants and raw sewage, micro plastics.

Meat is pumped full of antibiotics and other toxins and red meat especially can cause cancer, so there is no way I would feed my child anything like that.

https://amp.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jun/20/uk-supermarket-suppliers-chickens-given-antibiotics-critical-for-humans

https://www.ecoandbeyond.co/articles/antibiotics-factory-farmed-meat/

Not my troop! I was responding to another scout leader's post. I totally agree that it's not our place as cub/scout leaders to overrule the wishes of parents as far as meat is concerned.

My kids are being raised veggies as I don’t eat meat either for ethical reasons and don’t want to cook it. (I’d be vegan if it wasn’t logistically tricky with kids)

But if they want to eat meat when they’re older I won’t stop them.

My 7 year old who’s very opinionated and headstrong doesn’t want to eat meat although we’ve often said she can try it if she wants to. She doesn’t want haribos etc and can often swap them for something else if given them at parties. She’s aware of where meat comes from and has said she’s glad she hasn’t eaten it.

@budgiegirl oops, sorry!

I’m also really shocked at the scout leader thing.

Also if I was the parent I’d buy a bag of veggie marshmallows for them to take and toast.

@GCalltheway There's the option of organic and free range, and the cost means most families will eat much less of it. I am aware the animals still suffer, but welfare should be better and the expense means families will eat less at less cost to their health.